Saggese and Bolden meet at the IAC
South Korea hosts the first meeting between ASI’s president and NASA’s administrator
14 Oct 2009
Following preliminary contacts in recent months, ASI’s president, Enrico Saggese, met NASA’s administrator, Charles Bolden, for the first time in Seoul on 13 October 2009. From 12 to 16 October, South Korea hosted the sixtieth International Astronautical Congress (IAC), where approximately three thousand specialists from nearly sixty countries gathered.
Bolden and Saggese exchanged assessments of their respective space strategies, including the necessity to extend the use of the ISS beyond 2015. NASA reconfirmed its appreciation for the Italian support for the ISS, which will soon have one of the four Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (MPLM) built by Italian companies fitted permanently.
Concerning space exploration, Bolden reiterated that NASA is waiting for the final report from the Augustine Committee before reporting to President Obama on the state of the sector and receiving instructions on the new American strategy. Saggese introduced the European scenario; where space is increasingly becoming a situation shared by the ESA and the EU.
NASA expressed its renewed commitment to the problem of climate change in line with the new American administration. This commitment is shared by the ASI who developed the COSMO-SkyMed satellite system and will continue with the second generation dedicated to environmental protection and the management of natural disasters.
ASI and NASA agreed to maintain their consolidated bilateral collaboration in scientific missions with new Universe exploration projects. The two agency heads both stated the importance of increasing efforts in training new generations of space professionals and have arranged a further meeting in Washington in December.